Gregorian Chants at St. Lambert

Gregorian Chants are sung at St. Lambert during 8:00 am Sunday regular Masses, and on almost all Saturday Vigil Masses and Sunday Masses, during the Seasons of Lenten and Advent.

“Inspired for prayer and thanksgiving the generosity of the singing is purely to please God. Thanksgiving « gratiarum actio » is a free of any charge trade (grace, comes from the Latin gratis, but also from gratus i.e beautiful. Graceful and grateful have these two meanings). It is because of his gratitude and love the faithful believer sings for his God. He is motivated neither by money nor a desire to become famous. Almost all the composers of Gregorian are anonymous, the motivation is charity. St Augustin ought to say that “love is the work of the one who sings ” . Love is completely priceless, and only grimaces are the exchange for money. Singing for God mean being enchanted, delighted of him, the anointed chant reflects a gracious exchange.” – Gregorian

About Gregorian Chant

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. It is named after Pope Gregory I, Bishop of Rome from 590 to 604, who is traditionally credited for having ordered the simplification and cataloging of music assigned to specific celebrations in the church calendar. The resulting body of music is the first to be notated in a system ancestral to modern musical notation.

Gregorian chant originated in monastic life, in which celebrating the ‘Divine Office’ eight times a day at the proper hours was upheld according to the Rule of St. Benedict. Singing psalms made up a large part of the life in a monastic community, while a smaller group and soloists sang the chants.

Pope Benedict XVI on Gregorian Chant

“the supreme model of sacred music”- Pope Benedict XVI’s Letter for the 100th anniversary of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music

He praised Gregorian chant as being “of huge value to the great ecclesial heritage of universal sacred music.” But Pope Benedict also noted that sometimes it was erroneously “considered an expression of an idea corresponding to a past, gone and to be forgotten, because it limited the freedom and creativity of the individual and the community.” This was a view he wanted to counter.

“We always have to ask again: who is the true subject of the Liturgy? The answer is simple: the Church. It is the individual or group that celebrates the liturgy, but it is primarily God’s action through the Church, which has its own history, its rich tradition and creativity.”

The Pope Benedict XVI stressed that there’s no tension between tradition and genuine progress in the development of sacred music.

“The liturgy, and therefore sacred music, lives in a correct and consistent relationship between healthy traditio and rightful progressio, always keeping in mind that these two concepts – that the Council Fathers clearly emphasized – complement each other because the tradition is a living reality and, therefore, it includes in itself the principle of development and progress.”

Pope Benedict noted in his letter that all his musical conclusions are mandated by the Second Vatican Council’s constitution on the sacred liturgy, “Sacrosanctum Concillium.”